I am currently preaching at Providence Downtown Church a five-week Christmas series through Luke 1:1-2:35. It has been an immense joy to my heart in proclaiming the salvation and peace which comes through Jesus Christ.

“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11

I pray that you all might have a blessed Christmas season this year as we pray and partner together in ministry for King Jesus.

Our ministry engines have been moving at full capacity. Providence Downtown Church initiated a weekly evening Tuesday night small group at one of the local downtown Mexican restaurants, Plum Loco. The Idaho Falls Rescue Mission has eight small group Bible studies taking place each week for the residents. And to add one more dimension, the Idaho state director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association asked if I would consider being a volunteer church coordinator in our region. I will be submitting an application. God is good. I am blessed to be a missionary servant in Idaho for the King of kings.

“I would just like to say that the Lord will provide shelter and rest as long as we are faithful.”

“Being homeless was a very humbling experience. It made more grateful for the things I had afterward. It made me appreciate and rethink my life and the things I was doing.”

“I had it all on April 20. By the 21st I had lost it all, due to my landlord. I will bounce back due to God’s power.”

“The people in this community are genuinely good, caring people. But we often don’t want to recognize the homelessness struggle that is in this area. Drugs, alcohol, and other substances can play a role, but there are also low wages, difficult steps for assistance, and discrimination in housing. We as a community can make a difference. We just need to recognize it and act.”

“I had fallen into a huge pit. I was lost with no hope, but He is helping me to find the light on my darkest of nights.

“My feelings of homelessness: Scared, not knowing what is next, hopelessness, and wanting something better.”

“Me and my girlfriend slept and lived in a van for a summer. Being homeless is real in Idaho Falls.”

“I felt hopeless, lost, worthless, and scared. No one wants or likes me. I felt like it didn’t matter if I was alive or dead. Always looking for better but never finding anything better.”

“Indeed, there is an issue with the homeless people. There are a lot of underlying issues that we as a community should come together and help deal with.”

“I felt empty, alone like no one wanted to lend a hand because of my past. A hole that’s too deep to climb out of. I felt if I fell I wouldn’t be able to get back up! Lost in a world of darkness . . .”

During the month of September, I have been learning to trust that the Lord is my good Shepherd and that I shall not want. I can acknowledge the writings by David in Psalm 23, but how much am I experiencing the reality of this in my own life and for those to whom I minister to on the streets? I am desiring to trust the Savior more fully. I deeply need Him.

Here are some of the highlights from September:

September 1: I oversaw the renewal of wedding vows for Ron & Louis Vance (their 50th anniversary) on the River Walk downtown.

September 2: I began a new sermon series, “Our Shepherd & His Providential Care,” on Sunday evenings at Providence Downtown Church.

September 5: Thirteen ministers gathered together for a ministry luncheon at the City of Refuge.

September 7: I started Hebrew class with Pastor Beau Floyd of Emmaus Road Church.

September 8: Ten of us from the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission went to the Eastern Idaho Fair and Demolition Derby in Blackfoot, Idaho.

September 9: Picture night at Providence Downtown. We ended up holding our worship service in the downtown Civitan Plaza. This particular Sunday marked our six months of ministry as a church family.

September 10: What a joy to celebrate the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish new year.

September 11: I joined seven other pastors at Cop Church. We thanked all our first responders in attendance and remembered those who died on 9/11.

September 13: We had Pastor Phil Hagen, First Presbyterian Church, as a guest speaker for our IFRM staff breakfast.

September 15: The executive director of the Shepherd’s Inn, a ministry for pregnant mothers, gave me a tour of their facility.

September 16: I preached out of Galatians for the morning service at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. I spent the afternoon in ministry at the Bonneville County Jail, ministering to approximately 25 men.

September 17: This day marks the completion of three years of ministry with the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.

September 18: The beginning of a fast with Jews at sundown – Yom Kippur. That night I also attended the Imani Milele Children’s Choir Concert at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.

September 20: We were a part of a beautiful reconciliation of an adult son with his sister and mother at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.

September 23: Providence Water Baptism Service at the Apple Athletic Club. We listened to Ginger sing a song of worship to the Father, and then she was baptized.

September 24: Celebration of the first day of Sukkot – Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles.

September 29-30: Attendance at the FELC Men’s Retreat with Pastor Patrick Jones at Old Faithful Christian Ranch. Sunday was a full day: (1) Beautiful, early 8:30 am service and communion at the camp, (2) 11:00 am worship service at Grace Baptist Church in Rexburg, (3) afternoon ministry at the Bonneville County Jail, and then (4) evening 6:45 pm service with the beloved Providence Downtown Church family.

Would you like to contribute financially on a monthly basis to my missionary work? Here are three ways: (1) Send the contribution to my home church, Emmaus Road Church, and mark it as “missionary fund for Todd Wood”; (2) Address mission support to Providence Downtown Church in care of my name as well, or (3) You are welcome to give directly to me. For the month of September, I received $1,450 in monthly support. Thank you so much!

On the home front:

It has been a lot of fun to watch our youngest son compete in Cross Country meets. It reminds me of my senior year in high school when I ran Cross Country. It is a grueling sport but a great way to get in shape.

Prayer requests:

Pray that I might be able to increase my monthly mission support.

Pray for our five men in the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission Works Program. Two of the men will be graduating on November 17.

Pray for God’s strength to uphold men and women when they fall to temptation.

Pray for a Christian brother at the Mission who spent a day in family reconciliation with his mother and sister.

Pray for God’s blessing and Christian growth for the sister who was recently baptized.

My three main ministry objectives:

Be a servant missionary-pastor with Providence Downtown Church that specifically ministers to the incarcerated, the addicted, the homeless, and impoverished. It is a church ministering and bringing mercy to those in the margins.

Minister as a chaplain with the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission: (1) Encouraging and partnering with local and regional churches, (2) Discipling IFRM staff, volunteers, and residents, and providing pastoral prayer, encouragement, counsel, Biblical preaching, and teaching, and (3) Assisting with discipleship components for the IFRM Work’s Program.

We have been enjoying the sweetness of fresh apples, plums, and peaches from the trees. Fall weather is approaching, one of our favorite times of the year. We love the temperatures, the colors, and the harvest. God’s providence is evident everywhere.

By the way, Happy Jewish New Year! Rosh Hashanah!

Here are some of the highlights from August:

August 1: Ministry luncheon at the City of Refuge – great fellowship with seven ministers.

August 5: I listened to a sermon by my cousin, Pastor Bon Puckett at Well in the Wilderness Church in Christmas Valley, Oregon.

August 7-8: spent time with Pastor Dennis Rogers and hisfamily in Pullman, Washington

August 10: Visited Pastor Joe Lacy in Rexburg, Idaho and my sister, Susie, working at The Cocoa Bean in Rexburg, Idaho

August 19: Afternoon ministry at the Bonneville County Jail

August 23: Big neighborhood barbecue picnic at Troy Park

August 25: an 80th birthday celebration for a special lady, Margaret Warner, member of Berean Baptist Church

August 26: attended the 60th anniversary of Gethsemane Baptist Church, and then drove to an afternoon barbecue at Grace Baptist Church to hear Mark Matthews preach

August 30: Dinner together for Providence elders and wives in ministry

Would you like to contribute financially on a monthly basis to my missionary work? Here are three ways: (1) Send the contribution to my home church, Emmaus Road Church, and mark it as “missionary fund for Todd Wood”; (2) Address mission support to Providence Downtown Church in care of my name as well, or (3) You are welcome to give directly to me. For the month of August, I received $842 in monthly support. Thank you so much!

On the home front: We took a quick extended weekend trip to Oregon to be with relatives, and then we dropped off our youngest daughter, Mariah, up north at the University of Idaho. We miss her much and pray that she will be blessed.

Prayer requests:

Pray for our daughter, Mariah, that she will be blessed with Christian fellowship in her new college environment.

Pray for me as I preach a Sunday evening series for September on “Our Shepherd and His Providential Care”.

Pray for my Bible studies every Monday morning with the guys at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission.

Pray for the afternoon ministry at the Bonneville County Jail on September 16.

Pray for a Christian sister at Providence Downtown Church who will be baptized on September 23.

I have enrolled in a Hebrew class taught by Pastor Beau Floyd of Emmaus Road Church. Pray that I can get a good grasp of the Old Testament biblical language.

Pray as I seek to launch an 8-week reading group where we read the entire New Testament.

My three main ministry objectives:

Be a servant missionary-pastor with Providence Downtown Church that specifically ministers to the incarcerated, the addicted, the homeless, and impoverished. It is a church ministering and bringing mercy to those in the margins.

Minister as a chaplain with the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission: (1) Encouraging and partnering with local and regional churches, (2) Discipling IFRM staff, volunteers, and residents, and providing pastoral prayer, encouragement, counsel, Biblical preaching, and teaching, and (3) Assisting with discipleship components for the IFRM Work’s Program.

It has been a spectacular season for water baptisms. Since March, we have had seventeen people follow the Lord in water baptism, buried in the likeness of Christ’s death and raised to newness of life. We celebrate the hope, grace, and peace found in Jesus.

Here are some of the highlights from July:

July 1: Worshiped with Emmaus Road Church family in the morning; afternoon Providence water baptism service (4 brothers) in the downtown river

July 6-7: Overnight at Red Cliff Bible Camp in Pinedale, Wyoming; celebrated 26 years of service for Dean Loftus as director of the camp

July 8: Preached in the morning service at River of Life Church

July 12: IFRM staff breakfast with Pastor Warren Cuppy teaching the devotion; afternoon visit to the Community Info/Resource Fair to discuss the reducing of inmate recidivism.

July 13: Charles Hale, a recent brother baptized, took the evening to share his testimony at Providence Downtown Church

July 22: Worshiped with the Berean Baptist Church family in the morning; afternoon Providence water baptism service (2 sisters, 3 brothers)

I praise God for Berean Baptist Church taking me on as a downtown missionary! God is good and gracious. It is an honor to be partnering together with the Berean family. I am thankful for the love, prayers, and support of both Emmaus Road Church and Berean Baptist Church in Idaho Falls.

We are halfway through the year in ministry at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission. I would estimate that approximately 50 men and 25 women have attended morning Bible studies at the City of Refuge (men’s shelter) and Ruth House (women’s shelter) so far in 2018. We are thankful for every gospel seed that is sown in the soil of human hearts.

Concerning Providence Downtown Church, we are four months into this new faith adventure. We meet on Sunday nights, 6:45 pm, in the downtown historic Rogers Building at 320 B Street. We go high in our prayers (for mercy in the margins); we go deep in our study and discipleship (roots by the river), and we go broad in our fellowship (Jesus in Idaho Falls). Approximately 145 people have worshipped in our services since the beginning, and thirty people form a core nucleus. We have touched the lives of over one hundred men who are incarcerated, teaching in the local jail and mailing out discipleship materials. There is so much need, and yet we have barely scratched the surface. Please pray. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I am down at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission. On Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, I am around the city, striving to be a missionary for the King. Call me. Connect with me. Let us partner together to see the Lord lifted up in our midst.